User guide to this site

This site has been assembled in honour of A N Hutchinson, no 3199 and those men of B Coy 2″ Regt, South African Infantry Brigade that fought with him in Delville Wood in July 1916. It is comprised of 8 chapters, each of which seeks to illuminate a different aspect of his life and family/associates, especially over the years 1914 — 1916. These chapters are as listed below :

Background – Contains information on the Hutchinson’s, South Africa pre WW1, the Maud family in South Africa as well as the Somme battle.

Hutchinson Ancestry – Details the Hutchinson family tree and the various dwellings in London that they resided in before & after WW1.

The South African Period — relates the story of Aubrey on the farm Thorley, owned by A R Maud, the town of Dewetsdorp and Aubrey’s enlistment .

2″ Regiment B Coy – Contains some interesting facts about B Coy men, as well as a detailed summary of all 220 NCO’s and privates, as well as some photographs of no’s 7 and 8 platoons of B Coy.

Hampshire – A brief sketch of the South African Brigade’s sojourn in Bordon, Hampshire before shipping out to the Egyptian campaign at end 1915.

The Somme – Visitors can embark on a virtual tour of 2nd Regiments march to the battlefield in early July 1916 and their progress up to Delville Wood, via a series of interactive Google maps. An initial static map, showing the march route in red, corresponds to a secondary interactive map populated with numbered markers. The numbered markers each correspond to a photograph and mark the actual location at which it was taken. By clicking on any particular number marker found on the map, the concomitant image will appear as a thumbnail preview which the visitor can click to be instantly taken to the section of the chapter relating to that image. Each image has an explanatory caption. Alternatively one can simply follow the images in sequence through the chapter by scrolling down the page. Clicking on any of the large photos within the chapter will return the visitor to the interactive Google Map above.

The Somme Inside Delville Wood — Has an interactive map of the progress of B Coy through the wood on 15 July 1916 , similar to ” The Somme ” above.

Deployment in Delville Wood — Shows the best fitting scenario as to how B Coy 2nd Regt deployed on 15 July.

Navigate to any chapter you desire by simply using the “Browse Chapters ” drop-down menu located at the top of the site . Alternatively, follow the chapter sequence through by using the ” Next Chapter ” button at the end of each chapter.

Contact

Registered users are welcome to contact me and/or leave comments. To create an account, use the ‘Sign Up’ link in the top right of the site. If you are already a member, you can access your account using the ‘Log In’ link.

You can contact me privately via your profile dashboard. The profile dashboard can be reached by clicking the ‘My Account’ link at the top right of the site. Simply click ‘Contact Host’ or select a previous message thread to send me a new message.